A Dong - Basically a Des Moines institution. Nice vegetarian menu, but be sure to specify no fish sauce.Ritual Cafe (Des Moines) - Vegetarian with some vegan things.Fong's Pizza (Des Moines) - Vegan pizza options. They use daiya. India Star (Des Moines) - Good Indian food, has vegan things marked on menu. Thai Flavors (Des Moines) - Essentially the same menu as Cool Basil, same owners. Cool Basil (West Des Moines) - Thai, delicious, make sure to ask about fish sauce.Fresh Cafe (West Des Moines) - Very vegan-friendly. Juices and lunches.Bandit Burrito (Johnston) - haven't been personally, but the owners worked at Flying Burrito in Ames which has great vegan stuff, and Bandit is very similar.India Palace (Ames) - Buffet, not everything is vegan but the owner is really helpful.The Fighting Burrito (Ames) - Huge burritos, can be made with soyrizo. Battles BBQ (Ames) - Owned by same person as the Burrito, sauce is vegan and they'll make a vegan sandwich as well. Vesuvius Wood Fired Pizzas (Ames) - Delicious pizzas, can be made with Daiya.Cafe Shi (Ames) - Has a vegetarian menu with vegan options. A bit spendier, but good food.Revelations Cafe (Fairfield) - Sandwiches, salads, pizzas that can easily be veganized.Maharishi University Cafeteria (Fairfield) - All vegetarian, mostly organic cafeteria. Don't know about accessibility to the public, but you could always go for a visit.The Red Avocado(Iowa City) - All vegan restaurant. More expensive but worth it to have anything on the menu.Oasis (Iowa City) - falafel to die for!David's Place (Iowa City) - Ethiopian and amazing.Masala (Iowa City) - They are good about having things that are vegan marked on the menu and in the buffet, and it's delicious.Fairgrounds Coffeehouse (Iowa City) - A really overwhelming amount of awesome vegan options for breakfast and lunch, and coffee drinks. The savory waffles with potatoes, dill and vegan sour cream are crazy good.Rudy's Tacos(Waterloo) - At last asking, their black beans are vegan, so the black bean tacos are good if you ask for no cheese. FYI if you don't like spicy food, their guacamole is usually pretty spicy! The garden chili is also vegan and is really good, the veggies in it change through the year, but it is more like a thick tomato-y veggie soup than a chili. Cup of Joe (Cedar Falls) - Usually has at least one kind of vegan muffin, sometimes cookies. Soho (Cedar Falls) - Has a couple of vegan sushi rolls and really tasty cocktails.

I'll add:Masala in Iowa City. They are good about having things that are vegan marked on the menu and in the buffet, and it's delicious.Fair Grounds in Iowa City. A really overwhelming amount of awesome vegan options for breakfast and lunch, and coffee drinks. The savory waffles with potatoes, dill and vegan sour cream are crazy good.

Cedar Falls/Waterloo tips:

Restaurants:

Rudy's Tacos, in Waterloo: At last asking, their black beans are vegan, so the black bean tacos are good if you ask for no cheese. FYI if you don't like spicy food, their guacamole is usually pretty spicy! The garden chili is also vegan and is really good, the veggies in it change through the year, but it is more like a thick tomato-y veggie soup than a chili. Cup of Joe coffee shop usually has at least one kind of vegan muffin, sometimes cookies. Soho, in Cedar Falls, has a couple of vegan sushi rolls and really tasty cocktails.

Groceries:

Roots Market, Cedar Falls: Natural food store, also sells sandwiches, soups, and baked goods. Usually some vegan scones/cookies/soup and some of the sandwiches are vegan or can be. The Cedar Falls Hy-Vee has a pretty big Healthmarket section, too.

It's been over two years since I've been back, but the town has always been VERY lacto-veg-friendly, and I hear it's becoming increasingly vegan-friendly as well (finally!).

Revelations often has vegan soups and their sandwiches and wood-fired pizzas can be easily made vegan. Soy milk option for the coffee.

Everybody's store is the place to go for grocery needs. They're super duper nice there too. No attitude.

If you can eat at the MUM campus cafeteria, I highly recommend it. It's 100% vegetarian, 95+% organic and many of the fruit and veg is grown in the university's greenhouses. It's also easy to eat a raw vegan diet here as you have access to a blender, big salad bar, and raw nuts/seeds and nut butter.

These three option are surefire, but I'd wager there are newer restaurants in town worth trying as well.

Don't forget Oasis (Iowa City); falafel to die for!ALSO Spice Land just opened up in Coralville this summer. It's DELICIOUS South Indian food; next time I'm there I'll ask if their vegetarian stuff is vegan. They have a little Indian grocery store too; the "restaurant" is like a little kitchen with some tables out front to sit at. SO cute.

Also, some other Des Moines places... India Star (vegan items are noted on the menu), Thai Flavors (the sister restaurant of Cool Basil), King & I Thai (I haven't been here, but it's supposed to be really vegan friendly), and Open Sesame (I haven't been here either, but they have a lot of vegan options apparently).

Awesome! I'm spoiled for vegan pizzas in Ames and at home, but I really want to try Fong's. I didn't know King Ying Low closed, but I'll have to make a point to go downtown some night to try this new place.

I think radish sandwich covered most of everything, I've never been to Rudy's Tacos, hafta czech it out.

Pablo's Mexican Grill on main street Cedar Falls makes a pretty darn good veggie burrito along with their array of sauces, I'm not sure if all of the sauces are vegan though(I just sort of go with what I know, don't eat there too often anyhow.) With your selection of black or pinto beans, and cheese is optional. The veggie burrito is also cheaper than the others. And it is a BIG burrito.

SO excited to have some representation! and to hear that the hawkeye country is coming around to being more veg friendly. everytime i visit home i am stuck with iceberg lettuce salads and people looking at me funny when i ask for no meat. no cheese. no, not even ranch.

except for a heavenly place in burlington called mr. moto's, a super cool vegetarian beer/pizza place. my hometown savior!

and to hear that the hawkeye country is coming around to being more veg friendly.

It is pretty rough when it comes to going out to eat. It's kept me cooking at home more often though, which isn't a bad thing at all. However, it is nice to be able to go out once in awhile without having to worry about what you're going to order.

My boyfriend and I went out for breakfast this morning at Village Inn and with their lack of soy milk, oatmeal w/ raisins was really my only option, something I could have microwaved here and saved $2.50. :I

I think radish sandwich covered most of everything, I've never been to Rudy's Tacos, hafta czech it out.

Pablo's Mexican Grill on main street Cedar Falls makes a pretty darn good veggie burrito along with their array of sauces, I'm not sure if all of the sauces are vegan though(I just sort of go with what I know, don't eat there too often anyhow.) With your selection of black or pinto beans, and cheese is optional. The veggie burrito is also cheaper than the others. And it is a BIG burrito.

(Oh yeah, while I've never been to one, apparently a Trader Joes opened up in Des Moines. I've always heard they were a really veg friendly grocery story.)

No more editing means I can't add things to the master list. Here are the last few mentioned that I typed up before realizing I couldn't add them. Maybe if we have a bunch of new places to add (wouldn't that be nice) we can have a mod change it eventually.

Last time I was at mr. Moto's they didn't have vegan cheese but I haven't been in a long time. I brought it up last time I was there. Their sausage was so good I took one bite and went up to the counter to double check that I hadn't been served an animal. I just arrived in iowa this morning so ill check in on them while im here. Im so excited for this list because I just came back to plan out my meals for my visit! No more wimpy salads!

Dudes. I went to Centro last night and had their "tofu gnocchi." I'm pretty certain it's the only thing labeled as vegan on the menu, but it is so good! It comes with sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, and red onions, and is in a slightly tangy olive oil and herb sauce. So if anyone needs to go to a nice-ish restaurant, at least there's some place that has a surefire option, rather than having to ask for cheese to be left off of something vegetarian. Plus they have the free garlic focaccia on the table.